In biology, co-adaptation is the process by which two or more species, genes or phenotypic traits undergo adaptation as a pair or group.
[2] The mtDNA of COII coding sequences among conspecific populations of this species diverges extensively.
[4] The co-location of genes with related function and the preservation of these relationships over evolutionary time indicates that natural selection has been operating to maintain a co-adaptive benefit.
For instance genes that specify proteins employed in bacteriophage head morphogenesis are tightly clustered.
[6] Other examples of apparently co-adapted clusters are the genes that determine the baseplate wedge, the tail fibers, and DNA polymerase accessory proteins.
[6] In other cases where the structural relationship of the gene products is not as evident, a co-adapted clustering based on functional interaction may also occur.
As such, selection would occur for the combination of begging and feeding behaviours that leads to the highest fitness, resulting in co-adaptation.
[10] Parent-offspring co-adaptation can be further influenced by information asymmetry, such as female blue tits being exposed more to begging behaviour in nature, resulting in them responding more than males to similar levels of stimuli.